Baby carriage



No. 6l7,800.- Q Patented Ian. l7, I899. M. L. BARR.

BABY CARRIAGE.

(Application filed Apr. 4, 1898.) (No Modql.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

M. L. BARR.

BABY CARRIAGE.

(Application filed. Apr. 4, 1898.1

Patented Ian. 17, I899.

2-Sheets8heet 2.

(No Model.)

llullllllllll m/0mm W Kat- 3064401 1 Wigmeooao vAsmNcwM o c UNITEDSTATES PATENT QEETcE.

MARY L. BARR, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

BABY-CARRIAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,800, dated January17, 1899.

Application fileclApril 4, 1898. Serial No. 676,483. (No model.)

To all whom, it may cancel Be it known that I, MARY L. BARR, a citize ofthe United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion andState of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements inBaby-Carriages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inbaby-carriages; and it consists in means whereby the said carriage maybe converted into and employed as a rocking-cradle.

The object of this my invention is to provide a means whereby the bodyor cradle of the carriage is suspended, as by links or swinging arms,tothe free ends of thesupporting-springs or other portion of the frame ofthe runninggear and also to provide means whereby the gage or distanceapart of the carryingwheels may be increased or extended when using thecarriage as a cradle, for the purpose of providing sufficient spacebetween the said wheels to permit the body or cradle to be swung itsfull extent without contacting with the wheels on either side of thecarriage. I attain these objects by means of the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which similar numerals of referencedesignate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a side sectional elevational broken View taken through theline C D.

(See Figs. 2 and 3.) Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevational viewof the same, taken through the line A B (see Figs. 1 and 3) and lookingin the direction of the arrow a. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of therunninggear of the truck of the baby-carriage. Fig. 4 is a detailperspective broken view of the end of an axle, showing the manner ofconnecting the members thereof. .Fig. 5 is a de tail perspective view ofan end axle guideclip, and Fig- 6 is a similar View of the centralguide-clip of the axle.

The body of the carriage may be of any suitable construction or design,and to the bottom of which body or carriage is secured by any suitablemeans, as bolts, the front and rear body-supporting pieces 2, which areprovided with the integral depending arms 3, all of which arms arepreferably of equal length and set in alinement one with the other.Suitable suspension-links 4 are piv-' oted at their bottom ends to thebottom ends of the depending arms 3 and on their top ends to the freeends 5 of the front and rear supporting-springs 6 and 7. Suitableretaining-bars 8 are secured at or near the top free ends of the forwardand rear supporting-springs 6 and 7 and are provided for the purpose ofnot only forming a retainingtie for the ends of said springs, but alsoto form guides, against which the pieces 2 bear to prevent unduespringing or swinging of the body 1 in a longitudinal direction. Thesupporting-springs 6 and 7 are securely riveted or otherwise firmlysecured at their bottom ends to the longitudinally-extending side-bars9, and the said bars are firmly and securely held in parallelism witheach other by means of the front and the rear axle supporting plates 10,which latter are firmly ,bolted to the bottom sides of the side-bars 9,thereby forming with said plates and bars a durable and rigidrectangular truck-frame.

The front and the rear axles are each composed of two square orrectangular bars 11, placed side by side directly under the plates 10,to which they are secured by the end guide-clips 12 and the intermediateguideclips 13, and in which clips said axle-bars 11 are adapted to slidelongitudinally. The said axle-bars 11 are each provided with the endclips 14, each of which is secured firmly to the inner end'of itsaxle-bar and loosely encircles its contiguous bar to form a slidingguide therefor. The outer ends of the axlebars 11 are bent or crankedhorizontally to cause the axles of each of the opposing wheels 15 tofall on line or to aline with their common forward and rear axes. Theexterior ends or extreme outer ends of each of the axles are turnedcylindrical to form journals for the supporting-wheels 15.

Intermediate between the front and rear axles and to the under side ofthe side-bars 9 is secured the fulcrum-plate 16 by any suitable means,as the bolts 17, and to which plate is secured in the center under sidethereof the fulcrum-pin 18, whereon the shifting levers 19 of theaxle-bars 11 are pivoted, the one underneath the other. The shiftinglevers 19 extend diagonally from the rear axle-bar 11 of the forwardaxle to the forward axle-bar 11 of the rear axle and the other similarlyfrom the forward axle-bar 11 of the forward axle to the rear axle-bar 11of the rear axle, and each of the bars or levers 19 is provided at ornear its ends with the longitudinally-extending slots 20, which areadapted to receive the studs 21. The rear ends of the shifting bars orlevers 19 are prolonged rearwardly a convenient length to receive thebottom socket ends 22 of the pushing arm or handles 23, to which endssaid sockets are clamped by suitable binding or thumb screws 24, bywhich means the said levers 19 are held open,.as shown in full lines, toretain the supporting-wheels 15 in their closed or narrow-gage position,and when it is required to extend the axle-bars 11 to spread the wheels15, as shown in dotted lines, the pushing-handles 23 are removed and theshifting levers 19 are closed, as shown in Fig. 3, which extension ofthe wheels 15 pro vides ample space between them to permit the body orcradle 1 of the carriage to swing without bumping or contacting againstsaid wheels on either side. I provide the split lockingpin 25, which isadapted to pass through the registering holes drilled through the frontbar 8 and the supporting-piece 2, for the purpose of preventing the body1 from swinging when the same is in use as a babycarriage.

When the carriage is used as a means of conveyance, the shifting bars 19are moved into the position shown in full lines (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3)and are held in such position by the pushing-arm 23, as previouslydescribed, and the locking-pin 25 is inserted in the pinholes of theplate 8 and the piece 2 to retain the said body or cradle 1 in itsintermediate stable position between the wheels 15.

\Vhen it is desired to use the carriage as a cradle, the pushing-arm 23is removed and the shifting levers 19 are closed into the position shownin dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3, particularly Fig. 3, to spread saidwheels 15, as shown, and the locking-pin 25 is removed, after which thecradle 1 of the carriage may be swung transversely with itself with aneasy and graceful movement.

Having thus fully described this my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United Statestherefor, is-

1. In a baby-carriage, the combination with a swinging cradle or body,and a supporting truck-frame, of suitable supporting-wheels journaled tosaid frame, and means for extending or spreading each of the pairs ofsupporting-wheels.

2. In ababy-carriage, the combination with a swinging carriage orcradle, and a supporting truck-frame, of forward and rearward extensibleaxles composed of longitudiually= sliding bars placed side by side.

3. In a baby-carriage, the combination with a swinging body or cradleand a supporting truck-frame, of forward and rearward extensible axlescomposed of longitudinally-sliding axle-bars placed side by side, andmeans for retaining said axle-bars in closed or contracted position.

4. In a baby-carriage, the combination with a carriage body or cradleand supporting truck-frame, of longitudinally-extensible axlebars placedside by side beneath said truckframe, and means whereby said bars may besimultaneously extended, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a baby-carriage, the combination with a swinging carriage body orcradle, and a supporting truck-frame, of forwardly and rearwardlyextensible axle-bars placed side by side in pairs and transverselybeneath said truck-fra1ne, suitable axle-bar guides, anddiagonally-extending shifting levers fulcrumed centrally on saidtruck-frame, and connected at their ends to opposing forward and rearaxle-bars, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a baby-carriage, the combination with a swinging carriage body orcradle, a supporting truck-frame, and means whereby said carriage bodyor cradle is swingingly connected to said truck-frame, of forward andrear extensible axles each composed of pairs of vbars placedtransversely beneath said truck, axle-supporting plates, andintermediate guide-clips encircling said axles and secured to saidplates, clips secured to the ends of each of said axle-bars and adaptedto encircle each its fellow, and means whereby the said axle-bars may besimultaneously extended in a longitudinal direction.

7. In a baby-carriage, the combination with a swinging carriage body orcradle, and a supporting truck-frame, of depending arm-pieces beneaththe forward and rear ends of said carriage, side springs secured inpairs at their bottom ends to the forward and rear ends of saidtruck-frame, tie-bars connecting the free ends of said springs, andsuitable swinging or connecting links pivoted at their ends to the endsof said depending arms and the free ends of said supporting sidesprings, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

MARY L. BARR. I

\Vitnesses:

T oMrsoN R. BELL, MARY E. JoHNsoN.

